Strainer utensil



Nov. 12, 1929. I c, BROWN 1,734,995

' STRAINER UTENSIL Filed April 14, 1928 Patented Nov. 12, 1929 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" CHARLES L. BROWN, OF PORTLAND, MAINE STBAIN ER UTEN'SIL Application filed April 14,

This invention relates, generally, to utensils for straining liquids but more specifically concerns the means employed to secure the straining material to the container into which the liquid to be strained is first poured.

In marketing certain liquid foods, as for instance milk, extreme care must be taken to insure cleanliness of the product, and as this particular food is highly susceptible of con- TO tamination by foreign matter and odors, it has become the general, present-day practice to employ for straining purposes a fabric material, sometimes sterilized, which, after each consecutive straining operation is discarded and a new piece of strainer material substituted for the old one.

In consequence of this frequent changing of the straining or filtering material, a demand has arisen for a quickly attachable and detachable clamp, very simply constructed and easily operated; and in my present invention I have sought as a principal object to provide a clamping element embodying these characteristics.

My clamp is made in one piece; has a flaring entering edge which facilitates its assembly on the container or tunnel; is provided with an inwardly disposed, circumferential head which serves, when forced onto the container end, to draw the strainer fabric along the sides and across the end of the container, leaving the latter portion of the fabric stretched to almost the tightness of a drum head. I V

The ends of the clamping band are secured together by a very simple locking means operable without the use of screws, levers or other paraphernalia which the ordinary type of clamp requires to properly secure it in place on the container. The locking operation, with my device, is performed before the clamping band is assembled on the straining apparatus. 0 The locking device on my clamp band is an important structural feature of my invention, as by it the clamp may be locked or unlocked instantly, materially reducing the time required to assemble the parts in preparation for the straining operation.

In the accompanying drawing which I have 1925. Serial No. 270,032.

prepared to illustrate my invention, I'have disclosed one embodiment which, at the pres ent time, I consider preferable to other possible forms in which the invention might be carried out.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a tunnel equipped with my device for straining liquids; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the clampmg band; I i I Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional elevation ofthe parts shown in Fig. 1, sec tion taken on line 3-3, Fig. 1;

big. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional plan taken on line 4-4, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a View of the clamp band after blanking and forming but before bending into circular form;

Fig. 6 is the same clamping modified form of lock;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation of the band with 9.

clamp band shown in the blank form in Fig.

6, showing the ends locked, and

Fig. 8 shows the clamp band illustrated in Fig. 2 with the ends unlocked.

Similar reference characters identify like parts in all views.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is a tunnel of a form extensively used by dairymen for milk straining purposes. The lower end, or nose 1 is greatly reduced in size relative to the upper portion so that it may freely enter the neck of amilk can.

The bottom head 2 of the tunnel is perfo- 1% rated by holes 3, and may be made integral with the tunnel or a separate element.

Covering the bottom head 2 and extending for a short distance up the sides of the portion 1 is a strainer element 4 which may be made of a single thickness of some textile material, or, as I prefer to make it, fabricated from three thicknesses of stock, the center being absorbent cotton and the outsidelayers of cheese cloth.

Surrounding this strainer material is a clamping band 5, shown detached in Figs. 2 and 8. It consists primarily of a flat metal strip which, after being properly formed, is rolled into a circular band. The upper edge 5 is slightly expanded or flared outwardly so that it may more easily be located over and pushed along the fabric covered tunnel end.

Intermediate its edges is an inwardly projecting, circumferentially extending head 6, one purpose of which is to stiffen the band and hold it to a uniform shape. The principal object, however, of this head is the function which it exercises in the operation of stretching and securing the strainer fabric to the tunnel.

In Fig. 3, wherein is shown an enlarged sectional View of the several parts composing thestrainer apparatus, it will be observed that this bead 6 quite snugly embraces the fabric,infact slightly in-dents it, so that, as the clamp band is placed on and forced along the nose of the tunnel, the bead draws the fabric along with it until a tight, :drumhead effect is produced on that portion of the fabric lying over the perforated head 2.

Some styles of tunnels are made with a slight taper on the nose 1 which somewhat facilitates the tightening of the clamp band on the tunnel but does not produce the result which I obtain with my beaded band on a straight sided container. To more comprehensively explain the ac tion of this bead 6, reference is called to Figs. 1 and 3 in which it will be observed that I employ a strainer fabric, which commercially is sometimes called a flannel, having acon= siderable depth of skirt l. In manufacturing these flannels they are usually cut'in the form of either square or round discs and of a size sufficient to cover not only the perforated head 2 of the tunnel, but the periphery of the tunnel nose for a certain distance from the end.

Now it is evident thatas we approach the raw edge of the skirt,-which was the periphery of'the -disc,an increasing bulk of material resists the movement of the bead in its passage over the .fabric and along the tunnel nose. It is this increasing hulk which provides the tightening grasp of the clamp hand on the strainer material, the grasp increasing in potency until at a point when the pressure of the bead on the fabric is such as to admit of no more relative sliding movement between them, they are flrictionally bound together and further movement of the clamp band on to and along the nose of the tunnel will have the effect of stretching the strainer material or bringing into a taut condition that portion lying over the perforate head 2.

It is obvious that a tapering-nose. tunnel would not allow further forward movement of the clamp band once the bead thereon was firmly grasping the strainer fabric. There would, therefore, be no possibility of stretching, to the extent that .a straight sided tunnel does, that portion of the fabric in arrea-r of the bead movement,or in other words, the

portion which is utilized for straining purposes.

As it is of great advantage to keep the flannel substantially flat, or without bagging, while the straining operation is in progress, the ability of the bead on my clamp band to stretch the fabric until it is taut is of more than ordinary importance.

As tunnels are accurately drawn by diepresses, and likewise my clamp bands made by precision methods, insuring uniform proportions and dimensions always, it can easily be arranged so that when the clamp band is fully seated on the nose of the tunnel there shall be projecting portion extending below the strainer material, providing a space 0 which protects the fabric against pollution in case the strainer apparatus was carelessly laid down on the strainer end.

Fig. 2 shows the clamp band in locked position, ready to be placed over the flannel. Fig. 8 illustrates an unlocked band, and also an alternate form of clamp band in which there are tongues on each end with means to utilize one band for two respective sizes of tunnels,the spaces a and b signifying the proportion-ate difference in the circumference of the band when locked on the two varying sizes of tunnel noses.

The locking means for the clamp band con sists of a tongue 7 which, when the band is locked, engages a shoulder in the perforation 8 made on the opposite end of the band, the tongue being bent outwardly to form a hook (see Fig. 4c), the only over-lapping portion of the band on either side of the locking point being the end 9 which is disposed on the outside of the clamp, and this portion serves as a convenient means for grasping the band for the purpose of unlocking the clamp and releasing it from the tunnel.

A modified form of band is shown in Figs. 6 and 7 in which there are two notches 10 provided as a substitute for the perforation 8 in theother style of band, and two tongues located on the edges of the band in place of the one centrally located.

In assembling the parts for the straining operation, the tunnel is first laid on a bench, bottom end upward, and the flannel placed evenly over the perforate bottom head. The locked clamp band (as seen in Fig. 2) is then placed over the flannel, the flared edge in ad- Vance, and pressed downwardly until it gets a firm hold on the flannel. This secures the clamp band to the fixture and the straining material is frictionally but strongly held on the tunnel nose,but this is not suflicien't,so a further pressure on the clamp band is now exerted, and this will draw the portion of the fabric lying across the perforated end very -taut,this condition being very desirable, if not absolutely essential in obtaining the best results in the operation of straining the liquid. The straining work completed, the no clamp may be disengaged from the flannel by a slight pressure outwardly on the end 9 of the band.

My clamp band, made as it is, in one piece is low in manufacturing cost and its simplicity connotes cleanly characteristics which from a sanitary and hygienic standpoint is 0 more than ordinary consequence,more especiall when associated with work connect- 10 ed wit the preparation of food products which are easily made unfit for human consumption by contamination with foreign matter. And particularly in the case of milk which is largely consumed by infants and young people this holds true. It is therefore of the utmost importance that utensils employed in handling this commodity should be adaptable to a thorough cleansing after each time used, and this feature, taken in connection with the advantages accruing from its simple construction and ease of manipulation in preparing for the straining operation, distinguishes my clamp device and differentiates it from others embodying in their structure more or less complication of parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In a device of the character described comprising in combination with a tunnel having 0 a cylindrical lower end portion, a perforate bottom in said tunnel, a clamping band made in the form of a strip adapted, when bent, to surround said cylindrical portion, a slot in one end of said band, transversely disposed with relation to said band, a tongue in the other end of said band adaptable of flat-wise engagement with said slot, an arcuate shaped bead disposed on and inwardly of said band and positioned thereon nearer one edge of said band than the other thereof, said bead being discontinued as it approaches the said slot and the said tongue, a finger hold on said band adjacent the slotted end thereof and adapted to provide means by which the ends of said band may be disengaged by an outward movement of the slotted end thereof, and a strainer element disposed over the said perforate bottom and extending upwardly around the said cylindrical portion of said tunnel, interj acent the said bead and said cylindrical portion.

In testimony whereof I afiix my si ature.

CHARLES L. BR WN. 

